In recent years social media has become a popular way for individuals and consumers to interact online (e.g. on the Internet). Social media also affects the way businesses aim to interact with their customers, fans, and potential customers online.
Some bloggers on particular topics with a wide following are identified and are used to endorse or sponsor specific products. For example, advertisement space on a popular blogger's website is used to advertise related products and services.
Social network platforms are also used to influence groups of people. Examples of social network platforms include those known by the trade names Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Pinterest. Popular or expert individuals within a social network platform can be used to market to other people. Quickly identifying popular or influential individuals becomes more difficult when the number of users within a social network grows. Furthermore, accurately identifying influential individuals within a particular topic is difficult. The experts or those users who are popular in a social network are herein interchangeably referred to as “influencers”.